By: Jayne Black, Wisconsin Field Organizer
Date: October 1, 2026
About: Docket # EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0124-2920
To: EPA
Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is Jayne Black. I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am the Wisconsin field coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force — a national community of more than 1.6 million parents united to protect our children from the dangers of air pollution and the growing threat of climate change.
I am here today not just as an advocate, but as a mother of a daughter and son whose health is greatly impacted by air pollution and climate change. I am here for all our children whose very lives depend on clean air and a stable climate. I am calling for action and accountability!
On behalf of over 18,000 Moms Clean Air Force members in Wisconsin, I strongly oppose EPA’s proposal to repeal all remaining limits on greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector. Fossil fueled power plants are responsible for almost one-quarter of the climate pollution generated by the US. Strong climate pollution standards for power plants are vital for protecting families from harmful greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate chaos and endangering human health.
The health impacts from climate change are many and can include increased respiratory illnesses, like asthma, because hotter temperatures make air pollution worse and allergy season longer and more intense. As many people experienced firsthand in the U.S. this summer, climate change is also exacerbating lung-damaging wildfire smoke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 28 million people in the United States have asthma, which is almost 8% of the overall population. This includes approximately 23 million adults and nearly 5 million children and my son is one of them. He struggles every day to breathe and depends on his inhaler, rescue inhaler, and nebulizer machine which have horrible side effects.
Like many across the country, we are seeing and feeling the impacts of climate change, here and now. Heat waves have already become hotter, longer-lasting, and more frequent due to human-caused climate change. Extreme weather events are projected to become more severe and affect more of the country in the coming years and decades
In Wisconsin, just this summer we had two major rounds of extreme heat lasting several days with the heat index reaching 107. This triggered heat advisories covering roughly two-thirds of the state, with NWS HeatRisk maps placing most of Wisconsin under a Level 3 "major" impact level due to dangerous heat and muggy conditions. [1, 2] Heat-related illnesses, like heat exhaustion and heat stroke, are another major concern in a hotter, less stable climate. Heat is a contributing factor to my daughter’s multiple sclerosis and can cause relapse episodes, which profoundly affect her quality of life. My children are among millions of people in the U.S. whose day-to-day lives are directly impacted by climate disruption.
The EPA must not repeal climate pollution protections for power plants. The health and well-being of our families, communities, and future generations are at stake. Not just my children, but also your children and your grandchildren., The consequences of putting our children’s health on the back burner will result in millions of dollars in health care costs and devastating premature deaths. Please make safeguarding children’s health a top priority and reject the current proposal.
Thank you.